Instead of Housework...

I looked at my dishes yesterday (and when I say my dishes I mean the teens' dishes) and decided it would be way more fun to make something for school.
I used the printable pages from National Geo for Kids to make a information-type colouring book in ppt. It took a really, really long time. So, if anyone would like to snag a copy I am very happy to share (just click on the picture)!
 I am thinking that I will print the pages (there are 21 in all) in booklet format and give one booklet to each child with the heart crayon ( I still haven't made but totally plan to...) as a Welcome Back gift. There are actually 20 more pages, but Google Drive kept yelling at me (the file was too big), so here is the first half. If you're a follower, and would like the second half, let me know in the comments section below.

I also printed all my bb headers onto cardstock (there were a lot of dishes to ignore) and started assembling the Author Study folders I am making thanks to the freebie that Amanda at Teaching Maddeness has created. If you haven't already checked out her blog, I recommend it 110%. My gosh, it's wonderful! Click the picture to go to Amanda's page.

My big plan for the weekend is to go into the school tomorrow and start to get it organized and ready for the kids. I am bringing the hubster as I will need his muscles to move some shelves around.
Time to get crackin'! Luckily, I waited long enough yesterday for the teens' to get up and do the dishes..Now onto bigger and better things..Organizing the upstairs closet!!! Or more blog stalking/pinning/creating...
Hmmmmm

Genre Posters...Chevron

I have spent the last while looking for genre posters. I couldn't find ones that fit my "theme-ish"
classroom idea so I made my own. I used free chevron backgrounds in blue, green and purple (blue=fiction,
green=nonfictin, purple=poetry) and images of books as the examples. I used Beth Newingham's posters as inspiration, and the dictionary for the definitions of some of the genres.
I also included Author's Purpose on each poster. I then created labels for my books so that kids can easily tell what genre they are reading. All of this is for the "20 BOOK CHALLENGE" that I intend to do with
my third graders this year. Yes, it is based on "The Book Whisperer" by Donalyn Miller-although hers is a 40 book challenge. I am hoping to do 2 twenty book challenges instead of 1 forty book. This way, my kids won't get overwhelmed. I also expect all readers to complete the challenge, as I have books in each genre at all reading levels available to the kids.
I tossed around whether to use the challenge in IR or take home reading. I opted for IR, as it will be easier to monitor and conference with each student.
SO, here are my little creations. Click on the picture to download from Google Drive...

Reading Log

12 Genre Posters

We go back to school in ten days...is anyone else starting to feel a little overwhelmed? Baby steps to the escalator...(which is a quote from a movie I watched but can't remember the title of)...

ps For some reason, the pictures on the reading log uploaded all weird to Google Drive. If you'd like a copy of the Book Challenge emailed to you, let me know in the comments section. 

Procedures and PIE

This was my first year explicitly teaching PIE...and I noticed a huge difference in the my both my Reading and Writing program. In the past, I taught Author's Purpose as a 6 week pathway, and referred to it (sometimes) inconsistently for the rest of the year.
To start, I downloaded, printed, and laminated these PIE charts from Second Grade Shenanigans. They remained on my Reading and Writing Workshop bb all year long...

{click picture to go to Hope King's freebie}

We follow the "First Steps Writing" program in our board, which lays out specifically what type of writing you teach each year to each grade. In my opinion, kids need to be exposed to all sorts of writing (just like reading) and not pigeon-holed into one specific kind according to term. So, I taught procedure writing to both my 2s and 3s (which is what I do each year).
We started each lesson with author's purpose (new to me)...and I would remind them "It's all about the PIE." This was new to me because, in the past, I skipped over purpose. I guess that I figured I had taught it, they had learned it, time to move along. At times, I would refer to author's purpose but definitely not as often as I should have.
Another aspect I focused on was "Glow" and "Grow" self & peer feedback after each formal lesson. This gave kids a chance to talk about something that they did well on and a goal for improvement. Loved it.
I found this idea on Pinterest and immediately followed the link to "Wards Way of Teaching" to find out more about it. Since then, I've noticed it pinned like C.R.a.Z.y! I love it because it fits in with my "strength-based" approach...start with something that the kids are proud of THEN go to the goal for improvement :)

{click picture to go to blog post}

Our procedural writing this year included recipes, games, dioramas and crafts. Our Morning Routine anchor chart, one of my kids pointed out, was also a procedure. So smart. Click on the pictures to go to the post, site, blog etc that inspired me:

Purple Popcorn Muffins during Seuss Week

Kids LOVED this...they even remembered that it's a Non-Newtonian substance...

Puffy paint, another fun activity. The salt makes it sparkly...

{click for recipe}

Homemade sculpy thumbprint necklaces for Mother's Day...awesome. I made the sculpy at home and the kids rolled it out, cut it out, painted it and put it on ribbon...

Necklaces inspired by Monic at The Schroeder page. Thank you.

Healthy banana/strawberry smoothies made with yogurt.

Animal Research Project dioramas...made with salt dough animals. 

On the last day of school we played Minute to Win-It which were all procedural games. Lots of fun!! I got the ideas from the NBC site.

{click picture for full Minute to Win It packet}

During the year, as kids completed each Procedure activity, they filled out a form. The form included a goal (why are you doing this?), materials, steps, diagram, and reflection. For the reflection, they had to write down one strength about their procedure and one next step. They were then required to switch with a partner and each do a glow and grow with a peer. I often used the random group generator for the partnerships.
It's a simple form but effective. Click the picture to download it :)

I am very fortunate and have a SmartBoard in my classroom. Each procedure could be displayed on the screen, and steps were easy to follow. It also meant that the outcome wasn't a surprise and kids could easily reflect on whether or not their procedure needed to be tweaked. We also completed the procedure form together and used it as a reference when doing independent work.

I taught procedures as Informing the reader...would you agree? At times, the kids were adamant that it must be Entertaining as they were having so much fun : ) Tricky...

*******YOU STILL HAVE TWO DAYS TO ENTER MY 200 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY*******

Monday Made It and Giveaway Announcement

This is my first Monday Made It and I am linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics. I have things to share with everyone...
My first project is a Thumbprint Flower Pot.
The first time I made this was for a wonderful volunteer that I had. She ran the Roots of Empathy program for my class and was ah-mazing. I had so many compliments on it that I made a second one today with my own kids and nephews as a gift for my mom for her 60th birthday. It's a pretty easy craft, although (not gonna lie) it can be time consuming to make all the little bugs.
Materials:

• terra cotta plant pot with tray
• blue and green acrylic paint
• stamp ink
• fine tipped Sharpie
• varnish
• flowers of your choice

Steps:

1. Paint entire terra cotta pot and tray blue. Paint about halfway down the inside, too. Let dry and then paint again.

2. Using green paint, paint pointer fingers green and have kids lay their finger along bottom of pot with tip of finger pointing toward the top of the pot. This will be the grass so you will need to have many fingers along the bottom edge of the pot (it also looks great if they are different heights).

3. One at a time, kids stamp their thumb into their choice of colour and press gently onto blue "sky" part of pot. Staggering the thumbprints looks the best-don't forget to have prints on each "side" of the pot.

4. Add the kids names and bug details to the thumbprints with a fine-tip Sharpie marker. Use Ed Emberley's books as a guide {he's incredible}.

             

                                            

5. Stand back and appreciate all of your hardwork and skill! Yahoo! Now shellac the pot. Let dry and shellac again!

It's done! I planted flowers in the ones I gave my volunteer and my mom but you can use this pot to hold pens, pencils, rulers, signs, etc...so fun!

I am thinking ahead to Christmas presents to make with the kids and am thinking small terra white pot, brown thumbprints, red mini pompoms would = extremely cute reindeer pencil holder or fill with candies? So cute and so many possibilities!

My second Monday Made It is a little set of level book bin letters, book labels and a reading log. I am trying to revamp my library and have made these little signs using the *free*polka dot border set from GRAPHICS FROM THE POND. The font is Elephants in Cherry Trees from Kevin and Amanda. 

I colour coordinated my book labels by using red borders for fiction, blue borders for nonfiction, and yellow borders for magazines. The reading log is what I have been using for the last two years with my grade 2/3s and it works really well for the little guys. I am hoping that by coordinating the colours they'll have an easier time determining genre when colouring in the code. 

{click to get Level Labels A-S}

{click to get Book Bin Labels}

{click to get Reading Log}

Whew! I hope that someone gets some inspiration from my Monday Made Its...what a great way to share and show. Thanks, Tara, for a wonderful idea.

ps Here are a couple of really awful pictures (eeeekkk) of our other Monday Made It project...painting the kitchen. It's taken 3 years to agree on a colour, but Pyramid Gold now graces the walls of our kitchen. Honestly, this was NOT a colour that we had contemplated or talked about or researched on Behr's site (yup I am a regular on that site). I walked in the paint store, saw the sample and decided THIS is the colour we need. Hubster loves it, I love it, all is good.

*****I HAVE {ALMOST} REACHED 200 FOLLOWERS...PLEASE CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR GIVEAWAY DETAILS YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS!!**********

Any Thoughts on DIORAMAS Much Appreciated...

I love this time of the year. I feel like the kids are surpassing my expectations, rich learning can be seen everywhere and routines are old hat. This time of year also makes me sad. Kids will be going on to their next class in just a few short months. {sniffle} It's always at this time of the school year that I wish I could stay with the same kids for two years in a row. I think that it's called "looping" (?) and if that is the correct term, sign me up. I think. Errrr...on second thought...

My grade 2/3 class is finishing up an Animal Research Project that I purchased (only $3.50!) from Kimberley Gillow's tpt store:

(100% recommend btw)

This resource is laid out in a fun, easy to follow format that gets the kids "feet wet" for researching. Habitat, appearance, babies, predators, food, interesting facts are headings that the kids have to find information for. Our school librarian (who absolutely ROCKS) found up all the books the kids needed after they each picked a topic of their own. Dodo birds to giraffes to Mario (which I kiboshed)...and everything in between. After showing them how to look up information and how to make a list of important facts for each heading, kids practiced paragraph writing using the Stoplight Paragraph method. We've been working on paragraph writing all year, but this method seems to have really stuck for them:

(free download from tpt)

After writing rough copies or drafts, peer editing and revising took place. For the published copy, kids are making a PowerPoint presentation, including transitions, background colour, images and even sound. They were a little frustrated at first, but have persevered and are LOVING it. My little Mario hopeful even made a turtle pp so that he could then make a Mario one in his "free time."

My final step is making a diorama. Okay-here is the question: Are dioramas passe? I think my kids (especially the kinesthetic ones) would excel at this part of the project. I am thinking that they can use half size (I'll cut) pop flats for the base. Materials from home, supply cupboard, etc can be used for the ground (kids would have to make it authentic to their animal). Salt dough animals, small extras can be made. Vegetation can be picked from home or made from construction paper, foam, etc. **I would add labels to our dioramas.

Personally, I think it would be a fantastic culminating activity. Kids would have to use their learning/knowledge to construct an authentic model for their animal. 

If all goes well, we will have an showcase in our classroom and invite other classes to come and see our wildlife exhibition...including PowerPoints :)

So, too much or inquiry based learning? Diorama or overkill?

ps We've been doing lots of other stuff, too...just in case you're wondering...we work on our projects 2 times a week so that the kids don't become sick of them.

Free Poetry Makes a HUGE Difference~THANK YOU

I tried and tried to think of a witty title, but none came to me. Oh well.
I spent the day (it was really cold outside) binding poetry books for my class. During our IR conferences this last little while, we discovered that the poetry genre is an area that our class needs to read more. A LOT more. My dilemma-where to get resources... What to do??
My solution:
Teachers Pay Teachers. A BIG, BIG hug goes out to the teachers who made these awesome resources available as freebies through their stores. I appreciate it sooooo much and my kiddos will, too. Please click on the picture to go straight to the site.

1. I downloaded these excellent freebies:

(I left feedback for each and am now following the stores)

2. I photocopied each poetry booklet on different coloured paper:

3. I created covers for the books using Lettering Delights and MS Word clipart:

and laminated them for durability...

3. I bound the books using:

4. I have EIGHT (I photocopied each poetry book twice) poetry books for my class!!

**I included the store/teacher information page at the end of each book**

I will also use my Smart Board to display the poems and do shared reading activities. I am trying not to dissect every poem after reading Awakening the Heart by Georgia Heard. FANTASTIC resource, by the way. It's an easy read and Ms. Heard has practical, insightful ideas about instilling a love of poetry in your kids. 

Whew!! That's all for now. What do you do in your class to incorporate poetry?